Rock On!
by Dragonfly-Moonlight
Summary: Life is going well for Bad Luck, but changes are just around the corner. The opportunity of a lifetime is calling.
1. Chapter 1

The crowd was . . . cheering.

That simple fact was not lost on him. He could hear them. He could see them. Their faces, even the ones he knew he couldn't see, were alight with their enthusiasm, their desire for more. The noise that they made filled his hearing, sent his blood rushing throughout his body.

Shuichi smiled as he, Hiro, and Fujisaki took their bows and exited the stage. All three men were literally exhausted but happy.

It had been a strange and bumpy ride to the top. Shuichi knew that. He was surprised his band had survived everything that they'd gone through. If it had been any other band, they'd have probably gone their separate ways by now. But not his band. Not Bad Luck. No. They had survived. They had proven they had what it took to be a top-notch rock band.

During that time, his relationship with Yuki has also flourished. Again, something he had never expected to happen. He had always liked girls. Always. Then Yuki came, changing his life once more.

'How did I get so lucky?' he sighed happily, grabbing a bottle of water from one of the large coolers filled with ice. 'The career that I wanted, the love of my life . . . can things get any better than this?'

Shuichi glanced around the room, mentally preparing for the meet and greet that came after every show. Tohma was there as was Bad Luck's manager, K. Everyone that needed to be there was there. Even Yuki had shown up for the show. It was just as it should have been, in Shuichi's mind.

At that point, the fans with the backstage passes were slowly ushered in, disrupting the quiet of the room. For the rest of the night, Shuichi continued to smile and have his pictures taken with fans. It was the perfect end to a perfect show. Once it was over, he and Yuki would go home and climb into bed . . . maybe even engage in some cuddling or something much more . . . nothing could dampen Shuichi's mood anymore. The future looked very bright indeed.

Little did he know about the changes that were coming around the corner.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuki glanced at his slumbering companion and shook his head. Shuichi . . . snored. Like a locomotive. And he drooled. Yuki often woke up to wet pillows and a wet shoulder because of Shuichi's drooling.

It was annoying, to say the least, but it was also something that Yuki had grown accustomed to. Shuichi, if anything, was . . . passionate. Even after a night of rocking a sold-out concert, his young lover still had it in him to make love.

As he gazed at Shuichi, a rare yet warm smile crept onto Yuki's face and he leaned over the young singer, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of his face.

There were so many things in his life that he could change, that he probably should have changed, but he wasn't about to. Shuichi was one. So many doors had opened up for him, and for Shuichi. He liked it. He liked having the freedom that had been afforded to him. Shuichi had been his liberation.

Because of his newfound liberation, Yuki found his writing going in various different directions. He still wrote romance novels, naturally. He was good at them. The romance novels, though, weren't the only ones calling to him. Unbeknownst to his lover, Yuki had begun three other novels, on top of his current romance novel, and had written a few songs. Not that he'd share them just yet with Shuichi but they were there.

'Everything in good time,' he told himself, reluctantly pulling himself away from Shuichi and heading to his office. K would be there within the next hour or so to pick Shuichi up and take him to the recording studio. The agenda for the day, according to Shuichi, was to decide the band's next course of action. They were going to take some time off from the music business. Not too much time but enough to help them recharge their energy. After that . . .

'After that, anything goes.'


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay, last thing and then you can leave," Tohma announced, much to Shuichi's relief. Next to him sat Hiro and Fujisaki, both of whom seemed to have better patience than he.

'I just want to go home and relax,' he thought. 'Spend some time with Eiri. It's been too long since we've had some time to ourselves.'

As much as he enjoyed touring and making music – last night had been the most perfect example yet – he was ready for some much needed time off. Shuichi had grown some. He knew that there were other things in life that were just as important as making music and being successful. Because of his hectic life, Shuichi had grown to appreciate simpler things . . . like curling up on the couch with a good movie on the TV.

And it was hard for anyone to not see the changes in him. He was still passionate. He still spazzed out a lot but certain things no longer upset him. Not as bad as they used to, at least.

Even Eiri had noticed the changes in him . . .

_Last night . . ._

"Eiiirrriii!"

"What is it, cretin?" came the clipped, harsh response.

As usual, the insult stung him but Shuichi wasn't about to let it deter him. He knew that the novelist was quite tired, having been at the arena all day and all night, and that his insults were his way of being affectionate and of telling Shuichi that he was tired. Abusive to most people but Shuichi knew better. Instead, he offered his blond-haired lover a smile and crawled towards him.

"I love you," he giggled.

For a moment, Eiri said nothing, his eyes widened slightly. Then he shook his head.

"Okay, who are you?"

"Nani?" Shuichi blinked.

"Who are you?" he repeated. "You're not Shuichi."

"Yes, I am!" he pouted, still crawling towards him.

"No, you're not."

"And how do you figure that?" Shuichi inquired, stretching himself out on top of Yuki.

"Because the Shuichi I know would have cried and claimed I'm a big meanie, going on and on about it," the novelist murmured. "The Shuichi I know would be in theatrics over such a comment. You're not Shuichi."

"But I am Shuichi," he replied, kissing his lover's lips. "And Shuichi wants to show his Eirii just how much he loves him."

Again, Eiri only stared at him, as if he couldn't believe what had just been said. A light but rare smile then graced the blond-haired man's face.

"You've changed, Shuichi."

"I have?"

"Yes," Eiri nodded, his arms sliding around Shuichi's waist. "You have. I never noticed it before . . . but you have. You didn't get all dramatic on me when I insulted you . . ."

"Because I know you didn't mean it . . . you only insult me when you're tired of something. And today was a long day. I know that. That's why . . ." he kissed Eiri again, "I want to show you just how much I love you . . ."

Their lips came together once more in a smoldering kiss . . .

_Present_

'Have I really changed that much?' he wondered as last night's lovemaking session came back to him. He quickly had to dismiss it, and Eiri's words, though, because Tohma needed his attention at the moment.

"Now," Tohma was saying, "it's come my understanding that you're going to take some time off? Shuichi?"

"Yes," he nodded. "We're going to take some time off."

"How long? You know the music business waits for no one."

"We know," Hiro stated.

"But this is a calculated move on our part," Sugur chimed in. "We feel that it's in the band's best interest."

"How so?"

"Well, a couple of weeks ago, we sat down and talked about it. We don't want to be burned out," Shuichi replied. "We've seen it happen to bands that have made it as quickly as we have. They get so tired of everything and everyone, including each other, that they end up going their separate ways. We don't want that to happen to us. By taking some time off, we can rest up and relax. Do the things we can't while we're recording or on tour. Also, in doing so, we can recharge our batteries, so to speak."

"Keep the creative process going?"

"Yes, Shacho," Shuichi nodded. "Exactly."

"I see," Tohma murmured, his fingers rubbing his chin. "And it makes perfect sense. How much time were you planning on taking?"

"Six weeks."

"Six weeks?"

"Hai," Shuichi responded. "Six weeks."

"That's risky," Tohma pointed out.

"We know, Tohma-san," Hiro said, "but it's a risk we're willing to take. We figure that, if our fans are loyal to us, they can wait six weeks for us to begin recording again. We are doing this for them, after all."

"Mmm . . ."

Tohma became silent for a few moments after that, his expression that of deep thought. Then he offered them one of his famous cheerful smiles.

"Very well then. Enjoy your six weeks off."

"Thank you, Seguchi-san."

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"Are you sure that's a wise idea? Letting them take time off like that?"

Tohma glanced at his assistant, Sakano, and nodded.

"Hai. It is a _very_ wise idea," he stated. "They're thinking about their music and about their fans. They're not worrying about what K wants out of them or what NGR wants out of them. What they've decided to do is not only good but healthy for them. They're standing up for themselves as a band."

"But how?"

"By taking the time off, they're not together all the time. They have some breathing room . . . by taking the time off, they won't meet their demise . . . like Nittle Grasper did."

Before Sakano could say anything more, someone knocked on Tohma's door then K's blonde-haired head popped in.

"Forgive me for interrupting, gentlemen . . ."

"Quite all right, K-san," Tohma smiled. "I was expecting you. Did you find out about what I asked?"

"Hai," the American grinned. "I did. The competition you spoke of is in eight weeks."

"Then I hope Shuichi uses his time wisely."


	4. Chapter 4

Shuichi let out a soft sigh then stretched himself out as languidly as possible, burying his face into his pillow. Sunlight filtered in through the blinds as the sounds of Eiri working in his office drifted to the young singer. Morning had arrived, the first morning of his vacation.

'Six weeks,' he thought, a smile gracing his features. 'Six weeks to do whatever I want . . . it's like summer vacation!'

He lay for a few more moments, relishing in the feeling of not having to go anywhere, of being to _relax_. It felt like such a long time that he'd had and he knew that Hiro and Fujisaki were feeling the same way.

Life on the road, however, had a funny effect. Though he was excited about his vacation and intended to relax as much as possible, Shuichi found it impossible to stay in bed for too long. He'd spent too many mornings rising early for some project or another to truly be able to sleep in. Whether he liked it or not, Shuichi had become a morning person, thanks to K's . . . unusual wake-up calls.

'Guess it really can't be helped,' he thought, inhaling deeply once more. 'Oh well. That just means I have more time to catch up on everything!'

And there was much that Shuichi wanted to catch up on. The latest movies, the latest in the music industry . . . what was happening with his family. Sure, he had letters and emails from them, coupled with phone calls, but it wasn't exactly the same as seeing them. He missed them greatly so had made arrangements for them to stop by for a visit at some point during his vacation. His mother had been thrilled.

Now that he was wide awake, Shuichi tossed himself from the bed and immediately headed for the shower. The visit with his family was still a few days away but that didn't mean he could still be idle until then. There were movies to watch, music to listen to, shopping to do . . . and a few books to read. His time _was_ limited, after all.

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Eiri paused in his typing as the sound of the shower greeted his ears, a light frown gracing his features. It was the first full day of Shuichi's vacation and the boy was already up. The novelist had half-expected his young lover to sleep in as late as he possibly could. The Gods knew just how much Shuichi needed to rest. Thanks to K and NGR Studios, Bad Luck had practically been run ragged over the course of two years. There wasn't a time when Shuichi was NOT busy and it drove Eiri crazy . . . not that he'd have ever admitted it to anyone.

Curious and more than a bit worried, the novelist rose to his feet and made his way into the bedroom. Humming emanated from the bathroom, along with an occasional word or two, causing Eiri to blink in surprise. Then he shook his head and turned away. That was something about Shuichi that would never change, something that he didn't want _to_ change. Shuichi had far too much vibrancy to him and it was something that Eiri knew he needed. He saw that now. Again, it wasn't something that he'd admit willingly, especially to the rock star, but, as long as he knew it, that was all that mattered. Quietly, Eiri slipped back into his study and continued to work on his latest novel.

The inspiration for this particular piece had come in fast and furious, and it showed no signs of stopping. How long it would last, Eiri wasn't sure. Especially with Shuichi having six weeks off from Bad Luck. The young man had an uncanny habit of needing attention at the most inopportune of times. Shuichi wasn't as bad as before, when they had first gotten together, but he still had his moments.

As if on cue, the shower stopped and Shuichi emerged from the bathroom several moments, a towel wrapped around his waist and humming. Water still dripped from the boy's hair, giving parts of his flesh a rather shimmering look. Eiri pretended that he hadn't noticed his young lover's appearance from the bathroom as he continued to work on his latest creation. Slender arms wrapped around Eiri's neck as he did so.

"How's it coming?" Shuichi inquired. Eiri had to refrain from looking at the boy in shock once more.

Shuichi rarely had ever asked him how his progress was coming along on a novel. If he did, it was because he wanted Eiri's attention.

'He's asked before,' a little voice reasoned, 'and not demanded your attention afterwards. He's changed.'

'Yes,' Eiri's mind agreed. 'He's changed. He's still my annoying little baka, though.'

"Eh," he shrugged as his mental conversation quickly came to an end. "It's coming along. What are you doing up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep any longer," the singer confessed. "Figured I might as well get a head start on my vacation. Get caught up on a few things."

"Like what?" Eiri casually asked, his fingers still typing away. Amazingly enough, the story continued to flow through him despite the conversation with Shuichi.

"Movies I haven't had a chance to see, music . . . stuff like that. We still have that dinner with my family coming up . . . and I thought I'd get some shopping done, too. Was there anything that you wanted while I'm out?"

Eiri paused once more. He _had_ noticed that their refrigerator had become quite bare. But then again . . . neither of them had been home to keep it stocked. Though he hadn't stopped to realize it, Eiri's writing deadlines now usually coincided with Shuichi's recording schedule and his book tours with the concerts.

"You going to get groceries while you're out?"

"Mmm-hmmm," Shuichi nodded. "I don't intend to live on take-out and donuts for the next six weeks."

Eiri fought back a chuckled snort at that. Thanks to Tohma's insistence (and he knew just how persuasive Tohma could be), the members of Bad Luck had started to see a nutritionist. He'd seen a rather radical change in how Shuichi ate and how the singer preferred his food to be cooked when they went out for the night. One would have thought that Shuichi was simply becoming fussy about what he ate but Eiri knew that it wasn't the case. Shuichi simply wanted to be at his best and changing the way he ate was one of those ways for him to accomplish that. It was another one of those changes that Eiri had just started to notice. Hell, even his eating habits had started to change because of Shuichi seeing that nutritionist.

"I'll make a list," Eiri stated, finally pushing himself away some from his computer. "Go get dressed."

"Awww, but Eiri!" came the pout. Apparently his young lover wasn't in _that_ much of a hurry to leave. Before the protest could go any further, though, Eiri turned around and gave the singer a chaste kiss.

"No buts," he chided, standing up. "I'll write the grocery list as you get dressed. There'll be time for other things _later_."

A slight shiver coursed throughout Shuichi as one of Eiri's hands traveled along the boy's back, putting emphasis on his words. For some reason, even after all the time that they'd been together, his touch still had quite the profound effect on Shuichi and Eiri liked it.

"Okay?" he murmured. Again, Shuichi nodded.

"H-hai . . . any movies that you wanted to see?"

"Whatever you pick out will be fine."

"Okay . . . I'll be right back . . ."

Reluctantly, Shuichi pulled away from him and Eiri sat back down at the desk, trying hard to keep his blood from boiling.

Yes, after all their time together, they still had an impact on the other. It felt nice to know that, too.

'Focus,' he told himself, not allowing his thoughts to wander in that direction just yet. 'First thing's first. We need groceries . . .'

Picking up a pen and putting it to paper, Eiri began to write.

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Tohma whistled softly to himself as he browsed. Mika had insisted that he get them some groceries, now that Bad Luck was no longer on tour. Granted, it meant that he needed to take half of the day off from work, but Tohma didn't necessarily mind. Despite Sakano's panicky nature, Tohma knew that his assistant would not let him down. Not if he knew what was good for him.

'Wonder how Eiri's handling having Shuichi home,' he wondered idly, stopping to inspect some fruit. 'No doubt going crazy.'

Which Tohma knew to be not entirely true. Eiri'd had an interesting impact on the young singer. Shuichi had mellowed out some. Not entirely but enough to know the limitations of others around him. Shuichi still had a tendency to be hyper-active but Tohma had noticed the only times that Shuichi tended to be worse than usual was when Ryuichi was around. Ryuichi had that effect on the Bad Luck vocalist. Ryuichi had that effect on almost anyone of a like mind. Otherwise, Shuichi knew exactly when to back off in the exuberance department.

Then there had been the ever-so-slight changes in Eiri. The novelist may not have noticed them but Tohma had. Eiri still snapped at Shuichi, usually for the vocalist being himself, but it wasn't like it had been before. To Tohma, the insults and cutting remarks only seemed to be half-hearted, said more out of affection rather than out of annoyance.

And Shuichi just took the insults and remarks in stride, as if he knew something that no one else did. That had truly shocked the former Nittle Grasper member.

'Maybe my misgivings were misplaced . . .'

"You might want to try for fruit closer to the bottom," a familiar voice stated. "The stuff on the top didn't look too healthy to me."

Startled, Tohma blinked to Shuichi standing on the other side of the fruit stand, a bright smile on the young man's face. How come he hadn't seen the vocalist before?

"Really," Tohma smiled, quickly recovering. "I take it you've already checked it."

To that, Shuichi nodded.

"Hai. The freshest stuff is towards the bottom. Usually is."

"I see . . . thank you, Shuichi. How are you enjoying your vacation so far?"

"So far, it's good," came the slight nod. "Then again, it's only the first day so . . ."

"True," Tohma nodded, eyeing the cart full of groceries that Shuichi already had. Apparently, the two lovebirds had let the refrigerator go emtpy again. It was something Tohma had noted that they did often, especially when they were both gone on their respective tours. And since he'd insisted that Bad Luck start seeing nutritionists . . .

'I bet Eiri's still seething about that,' his mind chuckled idly. 'Especially since it means less beer for him.'

"Will you be needing help with anything?" he inquired, abruptly changing the subject. He technically had everything that Mika had sent him after anyway, and he was sure she wouldn't mind if he stopped in to check on both Eiri and Shuichi. "Or do you have more shopping you need to do?"

"No," the vocalist shook his head. "No more shopping. I saved the groceries for last. Are you sure you don't mind helping? Sakano-san . . ."

"Sakano can handle things at NG for a little while longer," Tohma assured the pop star. "And I do not mind. Please. I'd like to help."

Shuichi hesitated for a moment, a light frown crossing his features for a brief moment. Then the bright smile returned and he nodded.

"Sure!"

'I could always tell him now,' Tohma thought, following Shuichi to the check-out. 'But then that would ruin the surprise that I have for them. Timing is critical, after all.'

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K let out a soft growl of frustration, listening to the rather meaningless prattle at the other end of the phone.

"I see," he finally ground out once the individual had ended the little "lecture." He really wanted to shoot someone . . . or something. Badly. "Well, I'd still like the information anyway . . . and what you had just told me in writing."

"_In writing?"_ came the squeak. _"But . . ."_

"Make it happen," K stated. "I want all of that information sent to me at NGR Studios in Tokyo and what you had just said about a backing band. In writing. Or else."


	5. Chapter 5

Eiri felt his eyes bulging nearly out of the sockets as he watched Shuichi and Tohma bring in bag after bag of . . . stuff. He knew that Shuichi had intended to do some shopping today but this . . . this was fanatical! Even Tohma appeared to be bewildered by the amount of stuff that Shuichi had bought.

However, Eiri found that he really couldn't say too much to Shuichi about it. He had no doubts that the singer had not only bought the groceries (which still needed to be put away) but other things as well, like the music that he was certain Shuichi wanted to get caught up on and comfortable clothes for the singer to wear. Despite the flashy appearance on stage and for videos, Shuichi preferred to stick with casual clothing, like jeans and t-shirts, for every day wear. It was another one of those things that had managed to amaze Eiri, even at the beginning of their relationship. Truth be told, though he liked the flashy clothing for their revealing natures, Eiri also liked to see Shuichi dressed casually. It meant that the boy was comfortable. And a comfortable Shuichi was always an interesting Shuichi.

"Do any shopping?" he remarked casually as Tohma and Shuichi came back into the house for the tenth time. Shuichi quickly glanced at him then smiled that cheesy grin of his.

"Nah," came the glib reply. "None whatsoever!"

Eiri snorted then pushed himself away from the wall he'd been leaning against. He was more than half curious as to everything that Shuichi had bought, knowing that CDs and clothes were on the vocalist's list with the groceries.

"Is that all?" he inquired, sticking his nose into one of the bags.

"Just one more thing out in the car," came the enthusiastic reply. "I'll be right back."

Almost immediately, Shuichi scampered back out the door, leaving him alone with Tohma.

"He's quite energetic," Tohma commented softly. Eiri grunted in reply as he continued to snoop. So far, Shuichi had not disappointed him. Clothes, CDs . . . what else could the boy have bought to warrant so many bags?

"I think Shindou-san has also bought some movies and some books," Tohma stated. "There is quite a bit that he's missed, thanks to being on tour. He throws himself into everything he does. I haven't seen that in anyone since I last worked with Ryuichi."

Eiri gazed at Tohma in surprise. He'd always known that about Shuichi, had seen it on this last tour. When the vocalist could have relaxed and actually watched some movies, Shuichi hadn't. He'd always helped the technicians with the sound checks or the lighting or whatever it was that needed to be checked on. Shuichi had been in a constant stream of motion, hardly taking a moment to simply relax. It had bothered the novelist, and Eiri had just thought that no one else had noticed such things in Shuichi . . . well, no one other than he and Hiro.

'But this is Tohma,' that same voice whispered. 'Nothing gets by him.'

'True,' Eiri conceded to himself. 'Too true.'

"Yeah," the novelist nodded. "That he does. It's one of his endearments, I guess you could say."

"Hai," Tohma chuckled softly. "I guess one could say that. Was there anything you had planned for this little vacation of Shindou's?"

"Nothing in particular," Eiri replied evasively, wondering for what felt the millionth time as to what was going on in Tohma's head. The older man had an uncanny knack of surprising people, even when they expected it. "Why?"

"No reason," Tohma smiled. "Enjoy the next six weeks, Eiri."

With that, Tohma waved and left. Eiri's eyes narrowed and he knew. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Tohma Seguchi was up to something.

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The next several days had flown by. Quite literally. Shuichi truly had no idea of where the time had gone, only that he knew he'd been busy.

After Tohma had left, Shuichi had presented Eiri with a brand new laptop, which had surprised the novelist. Then there'd been the question of why, something Shuichi hadn't minded in answering. He'd bought it so Eiri had something else to work on. Shuichi had no doubts that the memory space on Eiri's old laptop was nearly at its limit and he didn't want for Eiri to have to delete the old files. Eiri merely shook his head at that but had accepted it. The rest of that day Shuichi had spent putting away groceries and organizing the other stuff that he'd bought.

That night, though, things had quieted. He'd fixed them a nice dinner (without setting the kitchen on fire) and they'd spent the rest of the evening watching movies and snuggling together on the couch. Well, Shuichi had snuggled up to the novelist and watched movies. Eiri had divided his time between watching the movies and reading one of the books that Shuichi had picked up.

The days afterwards saw Shuichi playing the dutiful housewife as he listened to the new albums by Gackt and L'arcenciel and some American bands that had looked interesting to the singer. Dusting, dishes, laundry . . . whatever needed to be done, Shuichi had made sure it got done. Before he knew it, a week had gone by. The house was clean, the music pretty much caught up in the listening department, and Shuichi found himself going a little stir-crazy.

Currently, he sat in Eiri's office, watching as his blond -haired lover worked away at another novel. Or at least, Eiri was attempting to work on another novel. The writer had stumbled across something that Shuichi knew only all too well.

Writer's block.

Cautiously, Shuichi approached the novelist, curious to see what Eiri had come up with so far. Despite some of the changes in their relationship, some things had not. Eiri still had a temper when he suffered from writer's block or when he had to rewrite something. Gently, Shuichi placed his hands on Eiri's shoulders and began to rub them down, his eyes glancing at the screen.

"What do you want?" Eiri all but barked out the moment Shuichi touched him.

"Nothing," Shuichi murmured, continuing to massage his lover's shoulders. "I just don't like to see you so stressed out."

Eiri only grunted at that but otherwise did nothing to discourage Shuichi's actions. The singer continued to read what was written on the screen as his fingers found the knots of tension in Eiri's back and worked them out.

"You might want to change that," he stated a few moments later.

"Change what?" came the grouse.

"That," Shuichi pointed to the screen. "It's awkward. It doesn't make any sense. At least, not to me, it doesn't. It could be what's bugging you."

For a moment, Eiri did nothing but stare at the screen. Whether he was reading where Shuichi indicated, the singer couldn't say at first. Then the unmistakable sound of fingers typing filled the room as Eiri deleted what Shuichi had suggested then re-worded it. Within moments, the words flowed from Eiri's fingertips and onto the screen in a fast and furious manner that Shuichi knew his lover was back on track. Shuichi allowed himself a small smile as he kissed the back of Eiri's head then pulled away. It was nearing lunch time and he'd be damned if he let his lover starve himself to death as he worked.

Slowly, he made his way into the kitchen, his own inspiration coming to him.

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Tohma frowned slightly as he read the paperwork that K had handed him as his fingers ran through his blonde hair, the only sign of his frustration. Across from him sat the American and Sakano, who was fidgeting nervously.

"Shacho?"

Wearily, Tohma glanced up. Sakano wasn't only fidgeting nervously, he _looked_ nervous.

"What do you intend to do about this?" Sakano asked, without waiting for Tohma to acknowledge him.

That was a good question, Tohma told himself. What _was_ he going to do about this? It had been his intention to enter Bad Luck in an upcoming competition in order to garner more international fame for the band. His plan had been simple. NG Records would still be Bad Luck's home label while XMR would be their international one. All Tohma had needed to do was place a few phone calls and have all of Bad Luck's current albums imported to the U.S. He hadn't expected the snag that had come with the competition, however, and very few things took Tohma Seguchi by surprise.

'Could always recruit back-up players but that wouldn't necessarily be a good idea,' he mused. 'Anyone from home would be in it just get close to the band. And I can't simply spring back-up players on them. They may not react too kindly to it.'

His own cousin had been a testament to that. Nakano had accepted the boy quicker than what Shuichi had. Tohma knew that the only reason why Shuichi had even accepted Fujisaki on the keyboards was because of something Eiri had said to the boy. That and Shindou wasn't the idiot everyone liked to believe the vocalist to be. Tohma had seen it on several occasions in Shuichi's eyes. There was a burning intelligence there that even Shuichi didn't know he possessed.

But Tohma knew. And Tohma knew how to utilize that to his advantage.

Still, he couldn't simply spring more players on the band. That could disrupt the balance that was already there. Tohma did not want that. Not when Bad Luck was still NGR's biggest moneymaker.

"Trying to think of a way to get them a back-up band without subjecting them to fanatics?" K inquired, finally breaking the silence that had filled his office. Tohma merely nodded. It hadn't surprised him that K had been guessing his thoughts. The American wouldn't have made it as far as he had by being unobservant. He and K were very similar in so many ways. They simply had different methods of obtaining what they desired. No doubt K had been troubled by the same thing.

"Hai," Tohma replied. "I take it you've thought of something?"

"Hai," the American nodded. "I have and I think you'll like it."


	6. Chapter 6

The apartment had fallen silent. Extremely silent, in Eiri's opinion. No snippets of music, no sounds from the TV . . . and not even a single peep out of Shuichi. There hadn't been for quite a while. Frowning a little, he glanced up from his work, wondering exactly what it was that Shuichi was up to. It was rare for the singer to be _this_ quiet.

He sat there for several moments, staring in the direction of the living room. That had been the last place he'd heard Shuichi moving about, and he knew that his young lover had not fallen. Even though Shuichi happened to be a lightweight, Eiri knew that the singer would definitely make some kind of a noise if he were to hit the ground. Everyone did.

Finally, curiosity got the better of Eiri. He pushed himself away from his desk and walked out of his office, intent on finding out at least _where_ Shuichi had disappeared to. The moment he reached the lounge, however, he stopped, and a light smile touched Eiri's lips at the sight that greeted him.

Shuichi lay in a semi-fetal position on the couch, his iPod attached to his ears. The gentle rise and fall of his chest told Eiri that the singer had fallen asleep and in the middle of the day, no less. Another rarity for the boy.

Still smiling gently, Eiri padded over to where Shuichi was then carefully eased the singer into his arms, making sure as to not drop the iPod. The last thing he wanted was for Shuichi to wake. Instantly, Shuichi curled into him and made himself comfortable.

"You're such a pain," he murmured as he carried Shuichi into their bedroom. Eiri knew that the singer wouldn't have heard him say that. Not with the headphones on and the iPod still playing. However, as he spoke, he thought he saw a slight smile tugging on Shuichi's lips.

He could have been truly mean at that moment. Eiri knew that he could. All he had to do was unceremoniously dump Shuichi onto the bed. Shuichi would be awake and full of energy once more. He knew that he should wake the singer up, so that they at least got a chance for some sleep later. However, he couldn't bring himself to do so, even if it led to something more fun. Shuichi needed the sleep. As carefully as he'd been when he picked Shuichi up, Eiri eased the singer onto the bed and pulled the covers around Shuichi.

Once he had Shuichi settled in bed, Eiri stood there for a moment to study his lover before he crept back out of the bedroom and back to his office. He had to admit that it had been a good idea for Bad Luck to have that six weeks off, albeit a bit grudgingly. Shuichi had started to look somewhat worn around the edges towards the end of the tour, though Eiri felt certain that the singer hadn't noticed. Hell, Hiro and Suguru appeared the same way to Eiri.

Tohma must have seen it as well or else he wouldn't have agreed with Bad Luck's request for time off. Eiri lit a cigarette as he sat back down.

Tohma.

As of late, something about the former Nittle Grasper had been bugging Eiri. The last time he'd seen his brother-in-law had been on the first day of Shuichi's vacation. As usual, Tohma had been enigmatic about . . . something. That something had to do with Shuichi and with Bad Luck. Eiri knew it, felt it.

He just couldn't figure it out.

888888888

Suguru closed his notebook and let out a rather satisfied sigh. It felt good to be able to sit down and relax without having to rush somewhere. NG kept Bad Luck extremely busy with recording and concert schedules, and everything else that came with the music. He'd hardly had the time to actually focus on musical arrangements for everything. It had gotten to the point where everything started to become . . . redundant to the youth.

Then Shuichi had called a band meeting, one that was for Bad Luck only. Not studio executives, no lawyers, and no K. Suguru closed his eyes as he thought of that meeting for it had been a surprise. Normally, K or Tohma called band meetings. Not Shuichi and it had the keyboardist slightly worried.

_Flashback_

The first thing that Suguru had noticed was Shuichi. Sitting there. By himself. Reading over something in that ragged notebook of his. For some reason, K had not been called into the arena's conference room. That in and of itself was a relief. Whatever Shuichi wanted to talk with them about, Suguru certainly didn't want K there, waving his magnum around, even though they were quite used to it by now. He entered the room and took a seat opposite of the vocalist. The only one missing was Hiroshi and Suguru knew that it wouldn't be much longer before the guitarist showed up. Hiro had been right behind him, last he had seen.

Sure enough, Hiro walked into the room a scant minute after Suguru had arrived. Once they were both there and Hiro had closed the door behind him, Shuichi finally looked up from his notebook.

"You both made it," he smiled. "That's good. I'm glad."

"Hai," Hiro nodded. "We're here. What's up, Shuichi?"

Suguru watched as Shuichi immediately closed his notebook and stuffed it into his backpack, his expression becoming serious. Very serious.

'Must be something very important,' he thought idly. 'I've never seen him look this serious.'

Shuichi drew a deep breath at that moment, as if to steady himself. A small tendril of fear gripped Suguru. Why, he wasn't entirely certain. It just felt strange to see this and Suguru found himself fearing whatever it was that Shuichi had to say.

'He's probably going to kick me out,' Suguru told himself, the beginnings of panic setting in. 'My playing hasn't been up to snuff . . . it isn't what he's been expecting of me . . . it isn't Tohma Seguchi anymore for him.'

"I'm not really sure how to say this," the vocalist began, hints of uncertainty lacing his voice. His hands wrung together nervously and Suguru waited for the words he dreaded to hear.

"Whatever it is, Shuichi," Hiro murmured, his tone both soothing and encouraging. "Just say it, okay? No sense in beating around the bush, as they say."

"Yeah . . ." Shuichi murmured, his eyes downcast for a single moment. Then his back straightened and he met their gazes. Suguru inhaled deeply . . .

"I want to take some time off from recording and touring. I think you guys should as well."

Suguru started to say something. What, he didn't know. But the moment Shuichi had said "time off," he stopped and blinked. Had he heard that correctly?

"Time off?" Hiro echoed.

"Hai," the singer nodded. "Some time off."

"What brought this on?" Suguru managed to squeak out. To say that he was surprised would have been inaccurate. Surprised didn't even begin to cover what he felt at that moment. He felt as if he'd been given wings and was soaring in the clouds. The only thing he could think of was, "Shuichi's not kicking me out . . . Shuichi's not kicking me out."

"Honestly?"

Both he and Hiro nodded. Apparently, Hiro had been just as surprised by this as he had been. Shuichi shrugged.

"I'm tired," he replied. "I need a break. I just feel so . . . stressed out."

"You must have been thinking about this for some time," Hiro observed, leaning back in his chair. Suguru glanced between the two as Shuichi nodded again.

"Hai . . . I have been. I mean, I love what we're doing and I love hanging around you both. Don't get me wrong . . . but I'm sick of seeing you both all the time. I just want to be able to kick back and relax and not have to do anything for a while. Don't you guys feel the same way sometimes?"

_End flashback_

And the truth had been both he and Hiro had felt the same way. They were on the verge of losing their creativity. Of course, Suguru had to rib Shuichi a little about wanting to get a little man-love from Yuki and that was his only real excuse for wanting to take the time off, which Shuichi had taken good-naturedly. However, they had agreed that some time off was necessary and had decided at that time how long they wanted their vacation to be.

'He's not as stupid as he pretends to be,' Suguru thought. 'He's just too hyper to actually sit down and take most things seriously. He just likes to have fun.'

And that Suguru knew to be the truth. It was always there, that fun side of Shuichi Shindou.

Nothing would ever change that. Ever.

'Better get back to practicing. Shuichi may be goofing off but I can't afford to. Not really. Not when the ideas are coming to me.'

Suguru smiled as he pulled out another notebook, the one he used for scratching down ideas. Shuichi was going to be in for one big surprise at the end of the six weeks. Suguru just knew it.

888888888

He felt warm and . . . tingly all over, and he heard the faint strains of a guitar coming from somewhere. Why did he feel like that and where was that guitar coming from? The last thing he remembered was laying down on the couch. He should have been cold . . . unless Eiri had covered him with a blanket? It was possible. Stranger things had happened and it definitely explained the warm feeling he had.

So where the hell was that guitar sound coming from?!

Shuichi's eyes fluttered open just as the rest of "touch" came back to him. There were things lodged into his ears and he felt a cool wire brushing against either side of his face. Then he remembered he'd been listening to his iPod. He'd opted for that so as not to disturb Eiri while he worked. But, as his eyes came into focus, he knew he wasn't in the living room. He was in the bedroom.

'How did I end up in here?'

Gingerly, Shuichi sat up, pulling the headphones out. His mouth felt dry, as if he'd eaten ten bags of cotton candy with nothing to wash them down.

"You look like shit."

At the sound of Eiri's voice, Shuichi jumped, nearly falling out of the bed in the process. The novelist's voice had been so quiet, barely audible, and Shuichi had not been expecting Eiri to be in the same room as he when he woke up. Fortunately, he managed to right himself before he actually fell out of the bed and banged his head on the night stand. That would not have been cool, in Shuichi's mind. He didn't exactly want to take a trip to the emergency room.

"Dammit, Eiri," he growled, his voice sounding raspy, even to his ears. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"Really now?" the author smirked, stubbing out his cigarette. "Is that so?"

Shuichi glowered at him as Eiri crossed the room.

At least . . . he tried to. It wasn't exactly easy for him to stay angry at Eiri. Not when the author happened to be drop-dead sexy.

And Eiri happened to be sexier than normal at that moment, bathed in moonlight, his white silk shirt opened . . .

"Mizuki-san called," Eiri murmured, sitting next to him. A cool hand brushed against his cheek, sending a shiver running along Shuichi's spine.

"Yeah?" he managed to squeak out. For some strange reason, it felt nicer than usual to feel Eiri caressing him like that.

"Yeah," the novelist murmured, his tone husky. "Apparently I'm up for the Naoki Award from Cool Magazine again."

"That's amazing, Eiri!" Shuichi exclaimed, his face breaking out into a big grin . . . at the same time a coughing fit overtook him. Strong arms wrapped around his waist as the fit continued to assault, keeping him steady. He'd quickly forgotten how dry his mouth had been when he woke up.

Once it was over, he sagged against Eiri and took a few moments to breathe. His head ached from the intensity of the attack. A weak moan escaped him.

"Baka," Eiri murmured. "Didn't even take the time to get sick before, did you?"

"Hnnn?" Shuichi raised bleary eyes towards his lover.

"You're burning up. I wondered why you fell asleep in the middle of the day."

"'m fine," he murmured, leaning against Eiri once more. "Just . . . need some sleep . . . when's the award ceremony?"

"Don't worry about it," the novelist stated, pushing Shuichi back down on the bed.

"But . . ."

A cool finger pressed against his lips, silencing whatever protest Shuichi might have had. Golden eyes gazed at him for a few moments before Eiri spoke again.

"I'll tell you the details in the morning, okay, Shuichi? Just rest for right now. You're no fun when you're sick anyway."

He wanted to argue the point further, wanted to find out more about the award ceremony, but knew that it would be useless. Only because Eiri was right. He wasn't much fun when he got sick. Shuichi had a very bad habit of falling asleep on people when illness struck him. In resignation, he lay back down, his eyes drooping of their own accord.

"Okay," he heard himself say, though it didn't like the words were coming from him. "In the morning then . . ."

888888888

Eiri watched as Shuichi drifted back to sleep. His young lover wouldn't stay that way for long, though. Not if that coughing fit from before was any indication. He brushed another hand against Shuichi's cheek.

'I should have waited to tell you about the award nomination,' he groused to himself.

Not that the award was truly that big of a deal to Eiri. He'd won it several times before in the past. Telling Shuichi about the nomination was merely a way of including the singer into his work. How or why that had started, Eiri knew not. It had simply . . . happened.

Of course, a great many things merely "happened" when it had come to Shuichi. Things that Eiri knew he would never change.

"Baka," he murmured once more. Then he rose to his feet and went to retrieve some aspirin and water.

He had a strange feeling that he was in for a very long night.

'So much for having a pleasant vacation.'

888888888

Tohma leaned back, his fingers interlaced with each other behind his head and his eyes gazing out his office window. Tokyo, at night, tended to look pretty to the blonde-haired male and had found that gazing at the lights of the city calmed him, helped him to focus.

However, gazing out at the city nightlife didn't have the complete calming effect he'd been hoping for. He found himself still churning over the dilemma at hand, which happened to be the potential backing band for Bad Luck.

'There's nothing for it,' he finally sighed to himself. 'I'll simply have to trust K-san's judgment on this one. He does, after all, spend more time with Bad Luck than what I do.'

Tohma quickly turned around and picked up the phone, though he knew he didn't need to. He knew with a great amount of certainty that K had already contacted the backing band for Bad Luck and that the band would be making the necessary preparations for the trip to Tokyo. The American was efficient that way.


	7. Chapter 7

He was not having a good time. Not when his body ached. He felt as if he'd been trampled on by a herd of elephants.

'No,' he told himself, fighting back a whimper. 'Not a herd of elephants. I'd be dead if that were to happen.'

And, in a small way, being dead was preferable to the agony that he was going through. Eiri had been right. Shuichi had NOT taken the time to get sick. He'd been so busy with recording and touring that he had simply . . . forgotten to. Everything, it seemed, had finally caught up with him. He now lay curled up on his side of the bed, his entire form aching. His temples throbbed from some agony that he couldn't even put into words.

"Here," a soft voice murmured. "Take this."

Shuichi opened haze-filled eyes to Eiri's blurred form. The older man appeared to be hovering over him, one hand holding a glass. The other hand probably held some kind of medication. Aspirin, the vocalist figured. Shakily, he pushed himself up as the novelist sat next to him.

For a moment, Shuichi couldn't do anything else. He felt so exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to just to back to sleep. However, the throbbing behind his eyes wouldn't allow him to. He knew it. He just couldn't take the medicine from Eiri. Not yet.

Finally, he held his hand out for the pills he knew Eiri had for him. Once he had them, he popped them into his mouth and swallowed them quickly, ignoring the biting, bitter flavour. The glass with the water was pressed into his hands moments later.

"Baka," Eiri said, his tone soft. "Of all the times for you to get sick . . ."

"I know," Shuichi moaned, flopping back onto the bed. "Around the time for the award ceremony. I know. I'm an idiot and a . . ."

Once again, Eiri silenced him by pressing a finger to his lips. Not that Shuichi had the strength to continue his little tirade of self-beration. His outburst had drained him, leaving him feeling exhausted and more than ready to fall back to sleep.

"I meant for your vacation, baka," Eiri said, his tone still gentle. "Now rest. The award ceremony isn't until next week anyway. I'm sure you'll be better in time so you can drag me to it."

Shuichi felt a wan smile creep onto his face at Eiri's words as he curled up under the blankets once more. In a way, it made him feel better to hear that the award ceremony was still a week away and to know that Eiri still cared for him, even after all their time together. Not many gay couples had lasted as long as he and Eiri had. It was something that Shuichi was quite proud of.

As he slid under the covers, he felt Eiri pulling them over his shoulders and a cool hand brushing against his forehead. It felt so good, so nice, and his eyes drifted shut under Eiri's gentle ministrations. He knew that he was still forgetting something but couldn't remember what.

'I'll figure it out in the morning,' he promised himself as he finally succumbed to the lull of sleep.

888888888

Hiro glanced at his watch and fought back both the urge to growl and sigh. Shuichi was late.

That really wasn't too unusual. Shuichi had a tendency to forget the rest of the world when his mind began to focus on something. It didn't matter what it was, either. Lyrics, singing . . . Eiri Yuki.

Eiri Yuki.

The man's name had a tendency to bother Hiro every now and again. There were times that he felt that his best friend was far too good for the novelist, that Shuichi could find someone more loving if he simply tried.

However, Hiro knew that it wouldn't happen. Not with the changes he had noticed in Shuichi over the last few years. Others may not have noticed but Hiro had. Shuichi had been his best friend for the longest time. Hiro knew exactly how much of a spaz the vocalist could be. Hell, the singer still was a spaz . . . but he wasn't as bad anymore. Eiri Yuki had tempered something out in his best friend. Shuichi still possessed his passion and zest for life but now the singer knew when to push for something that he wanted . . . and when to back away.

And the fights between Shuichi and Eiri were very few and far in between nowadays. Their relationship had become very symbiotic. It was like they fed off each other and Hiro, when he saw them together at times, often wondered where Eiri Yuki ended and Shuichi began.

Still, there were those times when Hiro disliked the relationship . . . like now. He knew Eiri had a tendency of being possessive of Shuichi, had heard about how the novelist had tried to attack K one time for taking Shuichi out of their apartment without the novelist's permission, and had even seen first-hand just how possessive Eiri had become of the vocalist. It wasn't healthy, in Hiro's opinion. Shuichi may not have agreed with him on that but Hiro couldn't help it. That was how he felt.

'It's probably what's happening now,' Hiro told himself as he glanced at his watch again. 'They're probably arguing about whether or not Shuichi can go out drinking with me. Dammit. I'm heading over there, whether Eiri likes it or not.'

Hiro slid out of the booth he'd been waiting in and made his way to the door. It was time he found out what was taking Shuichi so long. The vocalist, after all, was never _this_ late.

'Don't worry, Shu. I'm on my way.'

888888888

Tohma gazed at the pictures that K had handed to him, feeling somewhat amazed at the American's choice for Bad Luck's backing band. Along with the pictures was information pertaining to each member of the band as well as demo tapes. How K had gotten them, Tohma didn't know but felt that it truly didn't matter. All that mattered was the information at hand. He had to admit that it was quite impressive, the information that K had given to him. The band itself was everything he could have asked for in a partnership with Bad Luck.

"Well?" came the prompt. "What do you think?"

His eyes traveled to the one who had spoken. K. The American had a rather broad grin on his face, as if he already knew something that Tohma himself knew. Then he set the pictures down and folded his hands in front of him.

"I think," he drawled out, watching K intently, "that I will make my final decision once they are in Japan and have heard them for myself. I hope that they will not mind."

"I don't think that they would, Seguchi-san," K replied, his expression immediately becoming thoughtful. "Maybe Shuichi should be present as well when they play for you. After all, the decision does come down to him and the rest of Bad Luck . . . doesn't it?"

"Indeed," Tohma murmured, his gaze going back to the photos. "Indeed it does."

Both men fell silent at that moment. Tohma felt K's gaze on him, scrutinizing him. He knew that he could ask K anything when it came to Bad Luck, as he knew he could ask Sakano. Both men worked closely with the band, closer than what Tohma did. His association went further than what it should have, but only because of Shuichi's involvement with his brother-in-law.

"Worried about how he's going to react to this?" K finally inquired, breaking the silence of the room.

"Somewhat," Tohma shrugged. "But then Shindou-san has a knack for surprising everyone, doesn't he?"

"So you've noticed then," the American smirked, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. "The changes in Shuichi . . ."

Again, Tohma nodded, his eyes going back to the information at hand. He had noticed the changes in the vocalist just as he had noticed the changes in Eiri. It had been inevitable, after all. The two had been drawn together by a forcer stronger than that of Tohma Seguchi.

Just as he was about to start reflecting on those changes, something in K's information packet caught Tohma's attention. He'd seen it before, of course, but hadn't truly paid much attention to it. He picked the paper up again, a contemplative expression on his face.

"Seguchi-san?"

For a moment, he ignored K, his eyes focused solely on a single piece of information. Then he shook his head, berating himself as he did so. His eyes traveled to the blonde-haired man across from him.

"Slight change of plans, K-san," Tohma murmured, a small smile gracing his lips. "I hope you have those phone numbers handy."

888888888

Eiri jerked forward, sleep addling his mind. For a moment, he blinked confusion, wondering exactly when he'd fallen asleep. He'd had a tendency to do that on occasion, especially when he got to working on an intense piece. Then a few of his senses returned to him. The softness underneath him told him that he had not fallen asleep at his desk again, that he was in fact in the bedroom. With Shuichi. His young lover still burned with a fever. Eiri felt it through the vocalist's clothing.

'That's right,' he thought, pushing himself up. 'He was having a nightmare . . .'

Rather than wake Shuichi up, Eiri had crawled into bed with the vocalist. It had promptly calmed the younger man down, though an occasional whimper had escaped Shuichi. Eventually, he had quieted down completely and Eiri had felt himself being lulled to sleep by the close proximity of his lover's body. He knew he would have slept until Shuichi woke up again, which probably would have been morning.

Except it wasn't morning. One glance at the alarm clock had told Eiri that it had only been a few hours since he'd climbed into bed with Shuichi and another glance told him that the singer still slept. So what the hell had woke him up?

A knock on the door caught Eiri's attention and he blinked before climbing out of bed. He'd figure out what had snapped him out of a peaceful sleep later. In the meantime, he'd get rid of whoever was knocking at the door before he (or she) woke Shuichi up with that incessant pounding. In a matter of moments, he was the door and opening it to an irate-looking Hiro.

"Took you long enough," the guitarist groused, stepping inside. "I've been standing here for the last five minutes waiting for someone to answer. Where's Shuichi?"

"Sure, Hiro," Eiri murmured, closing the door. "Come on in."

At that, the guitarist gave him a rather pointed look.

"Where's Shuichi?"

"Sleeping," he replied, his tone displaying some of his irritation. "As I was when you came pounding on our door."

Now that Hiro was there and had confessed to having pounded on the door for at least five minutes, Eiri knew what had woke him up. His fingers itched for a cigarette but he refrained.

'Not while Shuichi is sick,' he told himself. He'd go out to the balcony later for one.

"Sleeping?" Hiro echoed, raising an eyebrow at him. "And why is he sleeping? He was supposed to meet me over an hour and a half ago."

"Huh . . . he never said anything to me about going out tonight . . . if I'd have known, I'd have called you."

"What?"

For a moment, Hiro stood there, blinking as if dumbstruck. Then his eyes narrowed at Eiri.

"What happened?"

Fighting back the urge to sigh and simply punch the guitarist (which would have been satisfying to Eiri but would have severely upset his lover), Eiri kept his gaze level and his tone calm as he spoke.

"Nothing serious so relax. Shuichi's just come down with the flu or whatever's going around at this moment. He's been sick since last night."

"He's sick? Oh man . . ."

"Yeah," Eiri agreed. "Oh man. And while he's on vacation, too. Sucks to be him right now."


	8. Chapter 8

Suguru stood outside the apartment complex, staring up and breathing slightly harder than normal. It was the apartment complex where Shuichi lived and the singer had invited him over. For what reason, the keyboardist wasn't entirely sure and that made Suguru more than a little nervous. He felt like he had when Shuichi had first called the band meeting during the last tour. Despite the number of years that had passed since Bad Luck had made a name for itself, Suguru knew that Shuichi still had a tendency to be something of a spaz. It was in the singer's nature, really. Shuichi had a tendency to meet life head-on with a pig-headedness that could rival even the Gods. It also made the vocalist rather unpredictable. Suguru had no idea as to what was going through Shuichi's mind and it bothered him. He hated not being able to read Shuichi the way that Hiro could.

In a way, Suguru was rather envious of what he felt to be Shuichi's carefree nature. Granted, he knew that Shuichi wasn't entirely carefree – the singer had plenty of things that he worried about and often voiced his concerns – but Suguru was still somewhat envious. He couldn't imagine what it was like to live like that, without someone else's shadow hanging over him. One could have said that Shuichi lived in Ryuichi Sakuma's shadow but that simply wasn't true anymore. The vocalist had gone beyond that mold some time ago, surpassing it even. Suguru still lived in his cousin's shadow and he knew it.

'Might as well just get this over with,' he sighed to himself, pressing the buzzer to announce his arrival. 'He's already expecting me.'

"_Who is it?"_ a cheerful voice inquired.

'Must be feeling better,' Suguru thought idly as he replied, "Suguru." He knew that Shuichi had been sick, having spoken to Hiro over the course of their vacation.

"_Come on up!"_

Another buzz sounded and he heard the gate's lock click open. He entered then made his way to Shuichi and Yuki-san's apartment.

As he walked, his trepidation began to increase. Suguru's mind went back to one of his previous fears – Shuichi intended to kick him out of the band. Sure, he'd complained before about some of the gigs that K had landed them and had declared he hadn't wanted to be a member of the band anymore, but he hadn't truly been serious about it. He liked Bad Luck, had put a lot of effort into helping the band to become the success that it was. Why he had those feelings at that moment, Suguru couldn't explain. He simply had them.

'Take it easy,' he told himself. 'You don't know that he's going to kick you out. Sure, his request for a visit is unusual but then so is Shuichi . . .'

Suguru took a deep breath as he drew closer to Shuichi's apartment, mostly to calm his nerves. He may not have appeared nervous but he certainly felt it. Shuichi had a knack for figuring out things like that. It was like the vocalist possessed an extrasensory perception, another thing that unnerved Suguru. Normally, he'd have scoffed at such an idea but not when it came to Shuichi. Never when it came to Shuichi.

He'd just let out his breath and had reached the door to Shuichi's apartment when the door swung wide open, revealing the energetic singer. Amethyst eyes gazed brightly at him and Shuichi had a rather large and somewhat goofy grin on his face.

"You're here!"

Before he could register what was happening, Shuichi had grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the apartment. Within seconds, he sat on one of the couches and was presented with a large glass of iced tea, Shuichi chattering away the entire time about his rather uneventful vacation and how he felt better for it. Then his gaze landed on Suguru, and he asked, "So how was your vacation? Do anything special?"

He nearly choked on his tea at the inquiry, Shuichi's question taking him by surprise. Suguru managed a weak smile as he replied, "Uneventful."

For a moment, Shuichi said nothing, his gaze almost studying the keyboardist. Suguru fought to maintain his composure. Shuichi had a tendency to be scary sometimes and now was one of those times. Then vocalist grinned that cheesy smile of his.

"So humble you are, Suguru! I never thought I'd see the day!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing at the singer. Shuichi merely continued to smile that stupid grin of his.

"Oh, not much . . . I just would have thought you would have been working on some arrangements or something. I never thought you would have actually relaxed the entire time!"

Suguru's jaw dropped. How the hell had Shuichi known _that_?!

As quickly as his first mood had hit, Shuichi's demeanor changed, his expression at once serious and sober. It was like watching Ryuichi change personalities, in Suguru's opinion and something that was equally as scary.

"I figured that you might have done something like that," Shuichi murmured, a faint smile gracing his features. "In fact, I'd expected it. If anything, you were the one suffering the worst during that hectic schedule of ours."

Shuichi then sat across from Suguru, the faint smile never leaving or wavering. He folded his legs underneath him.

"That's why I wanted to talk to you," the vocalist continued. "Without Hiro being present."

"Oh?" Suguru managed to squeak out. Shuichi nodded.

"Hai . . . after all, Hiro wasn't there when I demanded what I did of you . . . so it's only right that it's you and me talking about it now . . ."

"Shuichi . . ."

"Please . . . just hear me out, okay? Please?"

Suguru found that he couldn't say 'no' to the vocalist. Not with the pleading look he saw in those amethyst orbs. Suguru merely nodded his head and waited for Shuichi to continue.

"Thank you . . . as I was saying . . . it's only right that you and I are the ones talking about this now . . . I've done a lot of thinking lately . . . both on the tour and on this vacation . . . and I realize that I exactly haven't been fair to you . . . especially in what I wanted from you . . . and I apologize for that."

"Say again?" Suguru blinked, not entirely sure he'd heard that right. Shuichi was apologizing?

"I apologize for demanding that you be Tohma Seguchi for me," Shuichi stated, his eyes reflecting his sincerity. "It wasn't fair of me and it wasn't right. There is only one Tohma Seguchi in this world . . . just like there's only one Suguru Fujisaki."

"Wha . . . what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I want Suguru Fujisaki as Bad Luck's keyboardist. Not Tohma Seguchi . . . if that's all right with you."

To that, Suguru had nothing to say, finding, in fact, that there was nothing he_ could_ say. Shuichi had completely blown him away by even bringing it up, let alone apologizing for the demand placed on him years ago. His mind had simply been overloaded with everything that had been said. Suguru then mentally shook his head. He needed to say something, _anything_, if only to let Shuichi know what he thought.

"You're . . . you're asking me . . . to be myself?"

"Hai," Shuichi nodded. "I am. What do you say?"

What did he have to say about that? He had long since given up any hope of being recognized as being Suguru Fujisaki with Shuichi. The vocalist had some very high aims back then and had shown no signs of changing. This . . .

This was out of the clear blue, with no warnings or indications that it was going to happen. It had completely turned everything upside down, in Suguru's mind. Yet . . .

'Yet, it's so much like Shuichi to do the unexpected,' his mind reason. 'And let's face it . . . it's what keeps him interesting.'

'That it does,' Suguru agreed with himself. 'That it does.'

A small smile spread across Suguru's face, causing Shuichi's smile to warm up considerably. Suguru then nodded.

"I say . . . that sounds like a very good idea."

"Good," the vocalist enthused. "Because the next two weeks, it's going to be you and me. We've got a lot of work to do."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Suguru inquired. "Let's get to it."

888888888

Sakano glanced at the memo for what felt like the millionth time. He adjusted his glasses and re-read what the paper said all over again. Then he raised his eyes to meet those of his employer, Tohma Seguchi.

For his part, Tohma appeared calm and collected. As usual. Sakano noted something else, though, something very akin to expectation on Tohma Seguchi's face. He felt mildly surprised by this. Tohma was not someone who he could read easily.

Sakano set the memo down on the desk and folded his hands in front of him. He already knew that the former Nittle Grasper member had made his decision. There really would be no dissuading the man from whatever course of action he felt appropriate. Sakano knew this, a benefit of having worked with the keyboardist for the number of years that he had. Tohma giving him the memo was simply a mere formality to the producer.

"I take it you're rather set on this, aren't you, Shacho?"

Tohma nodded. Not that he really needed to. Sakano already knew the answer.

"Very well then. I don't see why not," he replied, removing his glasses to wipe them clean of imaginary dust. "Has the band been informed of this?"

"Not just yet, Sakano-san," Tohma murmured. "They're still on vacation and I have instructed K-san to keep it quiet a little while longer."

"I see . . ." He put his glasses back on. "Do you think Shuichi will be receptive to this idea? Of a backing band, I mean. He didn't take too kindly to your cousin or K-san coming into the picture, after all."

"That was then," the president stated. "Shindou-san isn't the same young and naive boy he was back then. And he does have Eiri to keep him grounded."

"Eiri?" Sakano blinked. "What would Eiri Yuki-san have to do . . ."

To that, Tohma smiled that enigmatic smile of his.

"Everything, Sakano-san. If it hadn't been for Eiri, I'm sure Shindou-san would have walked away from NG Records a long time ago."

"I still don't follow you, Shacho."

Tohma rose to his feet and moved towards the large window, his gaze going to the city.

"It is quite simply, Sakano. Whenever Shindou-san felt things weren't going the way he wanted them to, he talked to Eiri. That I'm sure of."

"It would make sense," the producer nodded. "He would seek someone out to comfort him in his time of need, so to speak."

"Hai," Tohma agreed. "He would. However, Eiri wouldn't have told him what he wanted to hear. He'd have said it like it was, not even sparing Shindou-san's feelings in the matter. I know Eiri rather well and it would be something that he would do, no matter who it was."

Sakano merely stared at his employer, mulling over the president's words before quickly registering exactly what it was that Tohma was saying. He then smiled.

"Very well then, Shacho. I'll see to it that your decision is made known to the band."

"Only when the time is right, Sakano-san. Only when the time is right."

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Shuichi wriggled his fingers as he made his way into the bedroom. The last few hours had been rather productive . . . and interesting. He and Suguru had spent the time going over lyrics and arrangements for each one, bouncing ideas back and forth until Eiri had come back from his meeting with his editor. Then he'd bid his band mate a good evening and had seen Suguru off.

'This may be the best album we've recorded yet,' he thought gleefully as he thought of the ideas that he and Suguru had come up with. Of course, they still had to present them to Hiro but Shuichi wasn't too worried about that. He had a feeling that his best friend wouldn't mind what they'd come up with. After all, they'd spent years working together as a team. Everything they did was by committee and the ability to read what the other members would and would not like. They had spent years refining their process and Shuichi was quite pleased with the way things worked.

'This may be the best album we've recorded yet,' he thought gleefully as he thought of the ideas that he and Suguru had come up with. Of course, they still had to present them to Hiro but Shuichi wasn't too worried about that. He had a feeling that his best friend wouldn't mind what they'd come up with. After all, they'd spent years working together as a team. Everything they did was by committee and the ability to read what the other members would and would not like went without saying. They had spent years refining their process and Shuichi was quite pleased with the way things worked.

As he entered the bedroom, he noticed that Eiri was not there, like Shuichi'd been expecting. It had been the direction he had seen his lover walk in. Frowning, he took several more steps into the room then paused to listen. It was entirely possible that Eiri had gone into the study, to continue working on his latest masterpiece, but Shuichi found that he couldn't entirely believe that. Not with the slightly . . . mischievous glint in his lover's eyes.

For a moment, Shuichi considered calling out to his lover and hope that some form of exasperation escaped the blond-haired man. It would be the easiest way to locate the novelist but not always most successful. When Eiri got it into his head to be silent and make his partner wonder where he was, Eiri remained silent. The idea had become null the moment he thought it.

And their apartment remained silent, as he stood there. No sounds from the study, no music, no TV . . . only the sound of his breathing filled the room. Even the sounds of traffic had disappeared. Shuichi felt certain that he could hear his hair hitting the ground, it was so quiet. It began to creep him out a little.

In some ways, Shuichi didn't mind the silence. Silence had its benefits and he could allow his thoughts to wander randomly. However, most of the time, silence unnerved Shuichi. Silence often reminded him of some rather bad times, times he wanted to forget. He had to have noise. Any type of noise would suffice, be it cars driving by or the TV blaring.

Feeling slightly shaky, Shuichi took a few more steps into the room and glanced about, hoping Eiri would appear. Then he had to take a few deep breaths just calm himself down.

'Take it easy,' he told himself. 'You're home. You're safe. You're not _there_ anymore. You haven't been for some time now.'

Still, he couldn't quite shake his feelings of apprehension. They didn't threaten to overwhelm him but they were still there . . . so it was no surprise he nearly jumped out of his skin the moment strong arms wrapped around him.

"You're awfully jumpy," came the soft comment, a hint of teasing lacing Eiri's tone. "Did I scare you?"

Shuichi found himself relaxing instantly, though he had wanted to give Eiri a piece of his mind for startling him like that. He found that he couldn't, however, and chose to lean against his lover. The silence had been shattered, like glass hitting concrete. For that, Shuichi was thankful.

"Just a little," he murmured, closing his eyes. Then he opened them again and twisted so that he and Eiri were looking at each other. The older man still had that mischievous glint in his eyes. Shuichi's head tilted up.

"What is it?"

"Hmmm?"

"You're up to something, Eiri," he stated quietly. "What is it?"

Eiri only smiled as he leaned forward, capturing Shuichi's lips with his own . . .

888888888

He stared at the ceiling. It had been several hours since he'd arrived home but he knew he wasn't any closer to any answers as to what Tohma Seguchi was up to. The man's mysterious manner towards his young lover had been bothering Eiri since he'd first noticed but had tried to put it out of mind for the time being. He knew that Tohma would reveal all when the time was right.

However, he hadn't been able to get Tohma's behaviour out of his mind, not completely. Every now and again, his curiosity reared its head and wanted to know. It wasn't anything bad, Eiri knew. He'd made it quite clear to his brother-in-law that Shuichi was a part of his life and would be, whether Tohma liked it or not.

Finally, Eiri had decided to pay his brother-in-law a visit. His curiosity had begun to arise at the most of inopportune of times and he found his concentration on his latest creation waning. Yuki couldn't stand that. The last thing he needed was for his inspiration to disappear. It was one thing for wording to trip him up, another thing completely for writer's block to truly hit him.

So he'd left the apartment for a while, giving Shuichi an opportunity to work on arrangements with Suguru. What he had hoped to accomplish, Yuki hadn't been entirely sure but as long as he was out, Shuichi had some time to get things started for the new album. His young lover's exuberance had begun to take hold once more and the meeting with his editor gave him the perfect opportunity to drop in on his brother-in-law.

Not that he'd actually been able to pry anything out of Tohma Seguchi. As was his wont, the former Nittle Grasper member remained elusive and merely smiled at Eiri's inquiries, but he still had managed to get something out of going to NG Studios. Bad Luck's producer, Sakano, was heading for New York, something he'd overheard as he'd walked by Tohma's office one final time. He'd paused for a moment, catching a few things here and there then immediately took off.

Since he'd left, some things were starting to fall into place.

Like why his editor had called him into a meeting when his deadline wasn't for several more months. Eiri had a feeling Tohma had been behind that move, even more so now that he knew Sakano was heading for New York.

The only thing Eiri couldn't figure in was why. Why the secrecy and subterfuge? And why keep Shuichi in the dark about sending Bad Luck to New York?

The dark . . .

Eiri let out a soft sigh as his hand traveled, of its own accord, towards the slumbering form of his lover. Silence and darkness. Both had a unique way of rattling either him or Shuichi, usually at the most inopportune of times. All because of . . .

'No,' he told himself, drawing a rather deep breath. 'Don't think about it. It's over, it's done, and Shuichi is safe. He's right where he needs to be.'

Still, it had been a rather scary and turbulent time for both he and Shuichi. Eiri knew that he and Shuichi still lived with the aftereffects of what had happened, though they rarely ever showed it. Only when it was too dark . . . or too silent.

'And it was silent in here after Suguru left . . . no wonder he jumped when I touched him . . .'

Eiri let out another soft sigh as his fingers became entangled in the silken mop that was Shuichi's hair. Yes, they still had their demons to bear. He just hoped that Tohma wouldn't trigger a severe flashback for anyone by springing whatever surprise he had on Shuichi and the rest of Bad Luck. He didn't think Shuichi could survive another ordeal like that. He didn't think he'd be able to, either.

888888888

Shadows had long since filled his office but Tohma paid no attention to the lateness of the hour. As the president of NG Records, he still had a lot to do. The matters were rather pressing and he wanted everything to be ready by the time Bad Luck came back to the studio.

Normally, he was done by five. Normally, he would be at his favourite club and kicking back. He'd have a few drinks, laugh a little with the bartender and then be on his way home to Mika and their daughter. That's what he normally did.

Today, however, was not a normal day. Not by any means. Today he'd been paid a visit by his brother-in-law, something that he'd been expecting. Today he'd deflected Eiri's inquiries about his plans for Bad Luck but he also knew that the blond-haired novelist had an idea of what was to come. Tohma had no doubts that Eiri had overheard the conversation with Sakano-san . . . just as he had no doubts that the novelist would start to put a few things together. Eiri wasn't stupid. Not by a long shot. The only thing his brother-in-law would not be able to truly figure out was the _what_ and the _why_.

'Don't worry, Eiri,' Tohma vowed, signing his name to one of the many documents that needed his signature. 'It isn't anything bad. If anything, it'll be just what you and Shindou-san need.'

Next to him, the phone rang . . .


	9. Chapter 9

Hiro couldn't fight the groan that fought to escape from him.

One week. They had one week left to their vacation but they might as well have said it was over. Especially with the way Shuichi and Suguru were arguing.

What exactly they were arguing about, Hiro wasn't too sure. Something about lyrics and arrangements - the usual argument, it seemed, and something he had long since tuned out. It was something that they always did when they were in the studio and usually worked out between themselves. He just thought it strange that they were fighting like this. It had been their idea to get together and practice before they went back into the studio.

And something else felt off about their bickering. It felt more . . . relaxed, somehow, like they had already agreed on whatever it was and were simply going through the routine for the mere sake of it. He stopped strumming his guitar to pay better attention to his bandmates only to find they'd already fallen silent. Both wore contemplative expressions on their faces and they were both huddled over the same piece of paper.

"Okay, you two, what's up?" he inquired, setting his guitar down. As he spoke, two sets of eyes glanced at him.

"Nani?"

"You're too quiet for just having had an argument," Hiro stated, folding his arms some. "Not to mention the whole thing seemed a little fake to me. What gives?"

At that, Shuichi and Suguru looked at each other and smiled, as if they were sharing some secret that they weren't about to share with Hiro. His eyes narrowed for a moment then he shook his head.

"You two are impossible!" he declared. "Go ahead. Keep your secret then."

Shuichi started to laugh as he set down the paper he and Suguru had been looking over. The keyboardist even managed a faint snicker.

"It's nothing big, Hiro," Shuichi assured him, his violet eyes glimmering. "Besides, the argument wasn't one of our usual arguments."

"Oh? What is it then? Don't tell me you two are having an affair together," Hiro teased, noting that Suguru's eyes narrowed at the suggestion. Shuichi only laughed again.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he teased back before shaking his head. "No . . . it's about how we want to present one of the songs."

"Really?" Hiro found this intriguing. "And how is that?"

"I was thinking we should keep our usual approach," Suguru supplied. "The usual techno thing. Shuichi, on the other hand wants it to be more rock. Our singer, apparently, has been listening to Gackt and HYDE again."

"We could still make it sound rock," Hiro murmured, leaning back in his chair. "I mean, there isn't anything you can't do on that synth of yours, Suguru."

"We could do that," Shuichi murmured, his tone thoughtful but not too thrilled about the idea. Hiro raised an eyebrow at him.

"I take it you had something else in mind?"

"A backing band," Suguru replied.

"A backing band?" he echoed. Shuichi nodded.

"Yeah," he sighed, "but it probably wouldn't work. I think all of NG's session musicians are already involved in some sort of project and to hire people off the street . . ." Shuichi shook his head. "It probably wouldn't work anyway."

"I'm sure we could talk to Tohma about it, though," Suguru finally said. "I'm sure he could find a way around the dilemma."

"Does that mean you're okay with Shuichi's idea?" Hiro inquired. It was the keyboardist's turn to nod.

"Yeah. It does. Besides, the one song practically calls more more than two musicians. I mean, I'm sure we could have Shuichi learn something but it still wouldn't be enough," he explained. "The song is just too . . ."

"Too what?" Hiro prompted when the two had been silent for longer than what he thought necessary. If anything, Shuichi was still often quick to supply an explanation even when one wasn't needed.

The two glanced at each other once more then Suguru handed Hiro the lyrics sheet. He quickly read over it, his eyes widening.

"Wow," he murmured. "That's . . ."

"Yeah, we know," Shuichi sighed again. "And that's the problem."

"Indeed."

888888888

It just wasn't his day. Something sinister was out to get him. He just knew it.

K read the new rules and regulations for the competition that Tohma wanted to enter Bad Luck and fought back the urge to throw the papers. He knew that, as long as he held the papers in his hand, he wouldn't do something rash.

Like pull out one of his guns and start shooting up his office. The last thing he needed was to have Tohma suspend him. The former Nittle Grasper had done it once before and K had no doubts that he'd do so again.

Still, he couldn't help but be irritated. The competition committee had decided to tack on another rule for a band's eligibility. It felt like they were purposely singling out Bad Luck just to keep the trio from competing.

'Okay, Claude,' he told himself. 'Think. There's got to be a way around this. You just have to find it.'

He stared at the rules for several more moments before giving up on that angle. Whatever it was he was searching for wasn't in the rules themselves. They were out.

"Out," he murmured. "Hrmmm . . ."

K leaned back in his chair, trying to rack his brains for a possible solution. He knew that he could call Judy, find out exactly what she had coming up in the next few months. It would be strictly business, sure, but it would also give him a chance to hear his wife's voice. Something about her chipper tone always managed to cheer him up and feel that anything was possible.

He smiled as he thought about how Judy would react to him calling her. She'd be happy . . . no. She'd be more than happy. She'd be ecstatic.

'Guess that settles it then,' he smirked to himself, leaning forward once more. 'I call her.'

K had just started to reach for the phone when, as if on cue, it rang. Blinking, he answered.

"_Claude, you're not going to believe this!"_ his wife gushed before he could even say hello. _"I've landed the most amazing part!"_

888888888

Sakano rubbed his eyes then gazed blearily out his hotel window.

The last week and a half had been hell. There had been no two ways about it.

'Not entirely true,' he told himself, heaving a sigh and putting his glasses back on. 'The American staff has been more than accomodating. And so has the backing band.'

If he were honest, he was simply tired. He hadn't really allowed himself a moment of true rest and sleep since he landed in New York. His days had become filled with commuting to Philadelphia and talking with the backing band Tohma had picked for Bad Luck and with organizing the studio for the band's impending arrival. He was constantly on the go.

"Hey, producer man," a female voice said. "You look exhausted. How about you crash for a while?"

Sakano glanced at the one who had spoken then offered the now-brunette-haired woman a wan smile. It still surprised him how fluently she spoke Japanese. His native tongue seemed like a second language to her.

"I can't," he murmured. "There's too much to do."

"Like what?" she shot back. "The studio's booked, right? We're just waiting for your boys to get here to begin recording the music. Get some sleep. It won't kill you."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Sakano muttered. "I don't think the Shacho is going to be too thrilled to hear about your . . . side activity."

"That's for me to deal with," she smiled, her brown eyes sparkling. "Not you. Now get some rest before I have my husband knock you out."

For a moment, he could only stand there and gape. She stared back, her eyes glinting, almost challenging him to continue. Then he sighed and threw his hands in the air.

"Fine. Just remember that I was the voice of reason here."

"Sure," she winked. "Whatever you say. Now get some sleep. There'll be some food waiting for you when you wake."

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Sakano alone with his thoughts once more. Finally, he conceded defeat and crawled into the bed his hostess had so graciously offered him.

'I just hope she knows what she's doing,' he thought as sleep claimed him.

888888888

'I can't believe this,' Eiri thought, gazing at his computer screen in surprise. 'I really cannot. How the hell did this happen?'

On the screen were the words "The End." In five and a half weeks, he'd managed to complete an entire novel.

And Shuichi had been on vacation the entire time.

'Maybe I should have him stay home like this more often,' he smirked. He quickly saved the document and closed the program down. It would still be a while before Shuichi came home so it gave him plenty of time to run some searches on the internet.

'Whatever secret it is you have, Tohma, I'm going to find out,' Eiri vowed to himself, logging on. Immediately, his email alert rang out.

Briefly, he considered ignoring his mail in favour of heading to one of the many online search engines but then quickly opted to open another browser window. Scrolling through results would be just as boring as scrolling through his email so he might as well get both out of his way. Then one of the emails caught his attention. An email from someone whom he hadn't heard from in many months, it seemed like. He clicked on it and felt his jaw drop as he read.

_Hey, lover boy. Got a proposition for you. Reply back ASAP.  
me_

Shocked to be hearing from _her_, he clicked on "reply" . . .

888888888

Tohma raised an eyebrow as he listened to K. The American had seemed a little put out by something when he'd entered his office but had also gotten straight to the point.

Again, the committee seemed intent on foiling his plans for Bad Luck. They were trying everything they could to keep his band out. They'd wanted additional band members and now this. His band had to have a song on a soundtrack. It couldn't be for any movie, though. It had to be for an American movie. Again, they would be foiled.

This time it was thanks to Judy Winchester, and to one of the backing band's members.

"I say we have one little busy bee on our hands," K commented, finally allowing himself a smile. "What do you think, Seguchi-san?"

Tohma offered a tiny smile in return.

"So it would seem. How lucky for us."

"Very lucky," K nodded. "I'll have to shake her hand when we finally meet."

"As will I."

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"Eiri, I'm home!" Shuichi called out, dropping his backpack in its usual place by the door. He slipped out of his shoes then quickly scanned the apartment and listened for the tell-tale signs that his lover was working away. There were none.

'Not this again,' he thought with a soft moan. 'I hate it when he does this.'

"Eiri?" he tried again, hoping the novelist wasn't in one of his "Let's hide and be quiet on Shuichi" moods. He wasn't really in the mood to play. Well, he was but not that game. Anything but that game.

"In my office," came the bland reply. Shuichi immediately let out a sigh of relief then made a beeline for the study. When he got there, he saw Eiri sitting at his laptop, staring at it.

"Writer's block?" he ventured cautiously. Slowly, the blond-haired man shook his head.

"No . . . it's finished," came the airy reply. "Come take a look at this."

"What is it?" Shuichi asked, padding over to him. Eiri merely pointed at the screen.

"Take a look," he repeated.

Curious as to what could have shocked his lover so much, Shuichi did as he was told, his own eyes going wide as he read.

"You're kidding me!"


	10. Chapter 10

"You did what?!"

Cool, brown eyes gazed at him, and a slight smirk graced the woman's features. She'd pulled her long, dark hair back into a loose . . . something. Sakano wasn't sure and didn't really care. He had to be sure he heard her right, which he felt absolutely certain that he had.

"I said I emailed Eiri with a proposition," she answered. "And I said I couldn't wait to meet his lover. I even invited them to stay with me and husband. That's all."

"You emailed him about this movie you're working on," Sakano accused, his anger ebbing some. He really couldn't stay mad at her. She had a slightly charming air about her and she had a strange habit of finding ways to put him at ease.

To his accusation, her smirk grew.

"Of course," she replied flippantly. "I even asked Eiri to talk to his boyfriend about possibly working on a song for the soundtrack. I'm using local bands so . . ."

"You should talk to the Shacho about Bad Luck being on the soundtrack," Sakano informed. "After all, he does have to give his blessing to the idea."

"I know," she winked. "I'm sure he won't mind, either. After all, the band's going to be here and recording with my band for the competition, right? What's one more song for us to record. Besides, it could be fun to see what we come up with. Wouldn't you agree, producer man?"

Sakano only stared at her. The last thing he wanted to do was concede a point to her. She'd been rather flippant about a lot of things lately. He had to admit, though, that she had a point. His stance relaxed a little as he nodded.

"Hai. It would," he grudgingly admitted. He may have been able to not remain angry at her but he wouldn't sound overly enthusiastic, either, even if she did have a point. Out of habit, he plucked his glasses from his face and began to clean them, and he only looked up when she started to laugh.

"Relax, Sakano-san," she murmured, bowing as she took a step towards the door. "Everything will work out just fine. You'll see."

She winked once more then left. Sakano merely shook his head.

He'd never understand the American woman, not for as long as he lived.

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"So let me get this straight," Hiro stated, cutting Shuichi off because his best friend could get too overly excited. Despite his slightly calmer approach to things, Shuichi could still get . . . bouncy over something new that enticed him. "Yuki gets an email from a friend of his in America and she wants Bad Luck to perform for the soundtrack?"

"Yes," Shuichi nodded, practically bouncing in place. "The movie's already in production and she wants us to go there to see how things are done. We might even get a guest slot!"

"Wouldn't that cut into our recording schedule?" Hiro frowned. To that, Suguru shook his head.

"Not necessarily," the youth replied. "NG does have a recording studio in New York. I'm sure it's not that far from . . . where did she say she was filming?"

"Philadelphia," Shuichi answered. "She lives there so that's where she set the movie. Or at least, that's how Eiri made it sound."

"Yeah, it isn't that far," Suguru murmured thoughtfully. "I'd have to check distances to be sure but it'd only be a few hours' drive to get to either place. Has she even heard our music?"

"I think so . . . I'm not sure, though," sighed Shuichi. He quickly sat down. Hiro thought that there was more to it than what the vocalist was saying. However, he didn't want to call Shuichi out on it just yet. Suguru had asked a legitimate question, after all.

"You think so?" Suguru echoed. Shuichi nodded again.

"Yeah . . . again, I'm not sure . . . Eiri says she's a big music fan so it's hard to say what she has heard and what she hasn't. He even said something about her having a band of some kind, something that she does for fun."

"She has a band for fun?" Hiro raised an eyebrow at that. "What does she do for a living if the band is for fun?"

"She's a writer," Shuichi said, giving him a strange look. "And a good one, too. Eiri says she's written a lot of different things over the years, including screenplays and novels. She even can write lyrics."

"Did Eiri say what her name is?" Suguru inquired.

"Yeah. It's Torie Cronkhite."

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Tohma glanced at his clock then sat down behind his desk. On his right sat the paperwork for the music competition he enrolled Bad Luck in. On his left sat a photocopied version of the manuscript that Torie O'Connell had sent to him along with her request for the trio to record a song for the soundtrack. Everything had fallen into place.

He liked it when everything fell into place. He liked it even better when they did because of something he did but this time . . . well, even he had to make an exception every now and again.

'I'll have to call Ryuichi,' he thought idly. 'Let him know Bad Luck's going to be in the U.S. for a while. I'm sure he wouldn't mind dropping in on them.'

He glanced at his clock once more. In a few more minutes, Bad Luck would be walking through his office door. Their vacation would be at an end in a few more days and he wanted them to spend that time wisely. Then he'd have a nice, long chat with his wife about the two of them accompanying the band to New York. He figured that she'd enjoy it. After that . . .

'After that, I'll probably be dealing with Eiri,' he smirked to himself. 'It's been driving him crazy, wondering what I've been up to these last few weeks. I'm sure of it.'

The sound of voices outside his door caught his attention. Tohma adjusted his hat. K led the band in, just as the two of them had discussed. Immediately, the band sat before him, their postures straight yet respectful. K simply lounged on his office couch. Tohma smiled.

It was time for his plans to be unveiled.

888888888

Eiri brought his cigarette up to his lips and took a long drag from it. Then he let the stick rest between his lips as he started to unplug his laptop.

He'd already given Mizuki his latest manuscript so that gave him some time until his next deadline. If he was lucky, he hoped to finish up a couple of the other pieces he had floating on his computer. He wanted to have a few books out there before the next book tour . . . which would quite possibly take place once he returned to Japan.

Shuichi would be on tour as well. The band would be recording its new album in New York and it would debut there first. The album itself would be recorded with a backing band from the U.S. A few weeks later, it would be released in Japan. That's the plan that Tohma had given to the trio when the band had met with him earlier that day.

There had been more, though. Shuichi had practically been bouncing off the walls after he'd come home, and Eiri knew why.

After the band finished recording the new album and had released its first single, they'd be in a musical competition. They'd be flying to Las Vegas for the event, and they'd be up against some rather tough competition. According to Shuichi, one of the other bands entered was a female quintet from Los Angeles. The female band was one that they'd both heard of and one that Eiri cringed in thinking about. He hated their bubble-gum sound and thought their lyricist was worse than Shuichi – which was saying something, considering he _knew_ first-hand at how his lover continued to improve. Shuichi seemed rather . . . indifferent towards their music, which was something that Eiri found odd. The vocalist very rarely remained indifferent towards any particular musician or band. He often looked for inspiration from any source he could get it but not this band. When Eiri had asked him about it, Shuichi had merely shrugged and said, "They're not really my style."

'He's growing up some,' Eiri thought fondly, a light smile touching his lips. 'I never thought I'd hear him say something like that.'

Truth of the matter, though, was Shuichi had said it. His words caused Eiri to wonder exactly how his lover would react to someone like Torie O'Connell.

'I'll find out soon enough,' he told himself as he finished packing up his laptop - the one that Shuichi had bought for him, incidentally. Then he flicked the ashes off the tip of his cigarette.

It was going to be an interesting journey to the U.S., to say the very least.

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Suguru flipped through the hardback novel that he'd picked up at the airport gift shop, his curiosity about Eiri's author-friend in need of being satisfied. After they'd had their own little band meeting/practice session and had talked with Tohma, he'd gone home and had done a search on Torie Cronkhite.

He'd heard of her before but only because of a movie that had been released in both Japan and America. Tohma had taken him and Mika to the movie premiere party, but Suguru couldn't recall if the authoress had been in attendance that night or not. Other things had happened around that time, things Suguru didn't want to even think about.

Banishing the thoughts before they could even begin to bother him, Suguru went back to the search he'd conducted. It had been more than fruitful in terms of works. There had even been some interesting tidbits about the American woman, including a piece of information regarding the movie that she was currently filming. However, Suguru had been more interested in her published pieces and to find out what had been translated and what had not.

After he'd finished his search, he'd made a list . . . a rather short list. Not all of the authoress's works had been translated into Japanese. Then he'd done a little bit of shopping. The flight to New York promised to be a long one, after all, and he'd rather have something enjoyable to do on the way.

'Might as well get started,' he thought, getting comfortable in his seat. He flipped the book back to the first page and began to read . . .

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K glanced around the first-class section of the jet to make sure that everyone was doing all right. Long flights had a tendency to do strange things to people and he didn't want to have to separate anyone. He'd had to the last time he'd gotten Bad Luck aboard a plane. It hadn't been pretty, especially after Suguru and Shuichi had thrown their food at each other.

Of their own accord, his eyes landed on the vocalist. The younger man had almost fallen asleep instantaneously after the plane had taken off. Longer flights did that to the singer for some reason.

Next to Shuichi sat Eiri Yuki. The novelist had his laptop out and had begun working on what K figured to be another manuscript. K shook his head. In his opinion, the author had a nasty habit of working himself to death. It wasn't healthy.

'But then it really isn't my business,' he mused, his gaze traveling to the rest of the band. Both Hiro and Suguru had stuck their noses into books. 'It's Eiri's and Shuichi's. They're the ones who have to deal with each other . . . except when it comes to Bad Luck's music.'

Turning back around in his seat, K found himself musing over the meeting he and the band had had with Tohma a few days ago. It had gone over surprisingly well, by his estimates. He had half-expected, though, for Shuichi to throw a fit about needing a backing band for the new album and for the competition. Instead, the singer had readily agreed and that had shocked the blond-haired man, perhaps a little more so than what it really should have. He had noticed that Bad Luck had been trying new things in their practice sessions before.

Then K quickly shrugged it off and leaned back in his seat. As long as Bad Luck made great music, he didn't really care. He'd be their manager until they decided to call it quits . . . or his death.

Whichever would come first.

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Shuichi let out a yawn then stretched himself out as best as he could. They had about another twenty minutes before their plane landed in New York and he needed to wake up. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced at his lover.

Predictably so, Eiri continued to type away at whatever it was that he'd started. It was one of those mysterious manuscripts he hadn't allowed Shuichi to see just yet. Why, Shuichi wasn't entirely sure.

Of course, Shuichi didn't entirely mind. There were song lyrics and compositions that he had never shown Eiri. Hiro hadn't even had a glimpse at them. They were personal and were about things he felt incapable of talking about.

As he watched Eiri finish with whatever section he was working on, Shuichi found himself smiling. It seemed like observing his lover had become his favourite pasttime. It didn't matter what Eiri did, Shuichi couldn't ever get enough.

Their eyes met while Eiri packed his laptop back up. Neither of them spoke. They didn't really need to. Shuichi knew how Eiri felt about him, just as Eiri knew how Shuichi felt. They didn't have very many secrets between each other anymore. It warmed the vocalist's heart just thinking about it.

"You ready for this?" Eiri inquired, interrupting Shuich's reverie. "Torie isn't anything like that Rage-chick, after all."

"Hai," Shuichi nodded. "I'm ready."

"Good," the novelist replied.

The light for them to fasten their seatbelts came on and Shuichi straightened himself out. In about another hour or so, he'd be meeting the backing band for Bad Luck's latest album. One of the band members also happened to be a novelist, like Eiri. It made Shuichi nervous. He'd met very few authors in the duration of his relationship with Eiri and most of them had been just as cynical, if not more so, as his lover. He had no idea as to what to expect from the woman and Eiri refused to say anything about her.

'I'll be finding out soon enough,' he told himself, buclking his seatbelt.

Several minutes later, the plane had landed and the passengers were filing out. They got through customs and security with relative ease, though Shuichi felt fairly certain that it had taken longer than the last time he'd been in New York.

'Maybe it's because we're coming in to the country,' he mused as he followed K towards the airport lobby. Standing there, wearing a suit like he always did, was Sakano. Five women surrounded him and each of them wore a pair of sunglasses. One of them, a brunette wearing a black t-shirt with a white skull and crossbones on it and a pair of black jeans, stepped forward. She had a warm smile on her face.

"Hello, Bad Luck," she stated in flawless Japanese, removing her sunglasses. "Welcome to America."


End file.
